Oxford County issues have implications in Woodstock

Mt. Elgin plans to add 200+ homes over the next few years

By Mark Schadenberg

Oxford County has some of the best farmland in the province and proof is seen in soil testing results, crop yields and real estate prices. I’m not going to discuss loam types and percentages of sand versus silt, or Class 1 through 7, and then compare it to the Holland Marsh near Bradford as I’m not a horticultural / agricultural specialist.

This entry deals with where municipalities ‘might’ be given permission to expand their ‘settlement boundary’ into current farmland.

I watched last night’s Oxford County Council meeting with great interest (I viewed the video so I could rewind when needed.) as a proposal for a large subdivision was discussed with maps and lots and streets, and lots of numbers. It was a public meeting section of the county agenda, so there was permission granted to delegations to speak against the plan as well. In this particular case, this new residential area was not on the horizon for Woodstock, Ingersoll or Tillsonburg. The GSP Group was in attendance to describe a 230-unit subdivision and zoning change for the community of . . . Mt. Elgin in Southwest Oxford township with a forecast of 166 single detached homes and then several townhouses.

You can watch the County Council video of the meeting where Cath Kindree and Heather Thomas of Mt Elgin speak against the idea based on several reasons – utilizing great farmland, creating more homes in a village which lacks dentists and shopping (etc), and over-taxing what they describe as a large septic system in place for municipal servicing. I can add that as a former Realtor I have seen these buried buckets in the front yard in Mt. Elgin which collect waste (brown water), so at best this is a modified or certainly unconventional waste water system. The proposal on the desk at the county did include an expansion of this unorthodox sewer system.

As is mentioned in the delegation speeches, the area’s Reynolds Creek is part of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority watershed. I’m on the UTRCA board and know about aquifers, water quality and existing habitat.

Included with this writing is a series of 4 Twitter entries by Zorra Township mayor Marcus Ryan. However, at the county council meeting he voted in favour of the zoning change.

Woodstock councilor Deb Tait was against the elimination of farmland adjoining this rural village setting and voted against the motion. Woodstock councilor Connie Lauder pointed out that Mt. Elgin may require an actual sewer waste-water system in the future which would cost thousands for each household to attach to.

Ingersoll mayor Ted Comiskey suggested that the ministry of environment should analyze how well the current septic program is working as it was approved in 2006, and determine if it will still be effective if system capacity is expanded when adding more homes.

Keep in mind, that pre-existing livestock farms do maintain a ‘minimum distance requirement’ rule with respect to building homes close to barns and active pastures.

The motion for a zone change to permit the subdivision passed with 3 voting against – Tait, Lauder and Comiskey.

I’m running to be re-elected to Woodstock City Council as a city-only member, but earlier this year I most certainly deliberated the thought of running for the more expanded City – County role for many reasons and allowing more residential living in smaller serviced villages is among my issues of concerns (Others include the multi-dimensional multi-faceted county human services department operations, the county amassing vast reserves for concepts such as a new landfill not required until at least 2050, county roads inside municipalities, snow removal, and other areas where the county somehow wants to expand its reach for offering services such as bus transit).

Woodstock, Ingersoll and Tillsonburg are the residential bases in Oxford County, but other communities do have defined ‘settlement boundaries’ which can be expanded because they have municipal services such as water and waste-water. Therefore, I can understand if Norwich, Thamesford and Tavistock (and even Beachville, Otterville and Drumbo) seek additional residential areas because they have (limited) lifestyle amenities such as employment, groceries, restaurants, medical offices, etc. In my mind, centres such as Mt. Elgin, Innerkip, Embro, Princeton, Bright and Plattsville should be discouraged to expand like a flow of lava into farmland with homes because residents of those hamlets must commute for work and shopping – thus creating emissions.

I do often refer to the Provincial Policy Statement 2020 as it elaborates on all land uses around the province, including farming, commercial and aggregates, and also the fact Oxford County is NOT in the so-called Golden Horseshoe.

I submit these personal thoughts only to prove again how over-lapping every issue can be if it is simply under the human eye – and dissected under a microscope.

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